Fireworks Fiasco
by PaperHat
Summary: There's been an incident at NCIS. Fireworks are involved. Gibbs is not a happy boss and is hell bent on making sure there isn't a repeat performance. Two of the team are in big trouble. Warning contains spanking, don't like, don't read.
1. Calming Down

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

**_A/N - This is for Crazy4Gibbs who wanted another story to read whilst she was on vacation. Enjoy!_**

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Jethro Gibbs looked at his reflection in the mirror and took in a deep breath. He was trying desperately to calm down.

As a Marine, he was used to being able to deal with fear. He could handle the prospect of death, and, the fact that the buddies he spent time with one moment, could be gone the next, in the heat of battle. He had learned to deal with that sensation in his gut, which was a volatile mix, of fear, relief, anticipation and alertness.

As a father, he had recognised similar feelings in his gut when he watched Kelly take teetering steps towards the edge of a table, or when he watched her wobbling on her bike, trying desperately to stay upright. There had only been one time when he had gotten close to those Marine feelings, when her delicate fingers were perilously close to a lit candle. He could still remember her frightened face, wet with tears, as he yelled at her. Although a Marine who had no fear, he was still a father who was scared at the prospect of his baby being hurt.

He sighed heavily.

He never expected to have those feelings again. They had resurfaced automatically as soon as he had found out what was going on. When it was all over, he had resolved, just as he had done with Kelly, to clearly explain to those involved, what the consequences of their actions could have been. There was a lesson to be imparted to make sure such an incident would never happen again.

"I swear, you guys are gonna give me a coronary, one of these days," he muttered to himself.

He straightened up, and stretched his neck a little, steeling himself for what he was about to do, as his mind replayed his earlier confrontation with Jen.

_Flashback..._

"Jethro, are they okay?" Jen asked, with a worried look.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, instantly reassuring her.

"They're fine Jen. Ducky is checking them over as a precaution, but they are okay."

She placed a hand on her brow, and sighed with relief.

"What the hell happened?"

He took a few moments to respond, carefully measuring his tone and eye contact.

"It was an accident Jen. They were working on some tests from a cold case and there must've been a problem with what they were using. Abby can explain later, but for now, all you need to know, is that everything's almost back to normal."

She smiled and then inhaled deeply,

"Okay. I want a full report on my desk by tomorrow morning."

He nodded and headed towards the bathroom. His gut on overdrive.

_...end of Flashback_

Having reassured the Director that it was a legitimate accident, he reconciled his lies within himself and began to focus on the behaviour of those involved.

He knew he had one more thing to do, before he could put the whole sorry mess behind him.

And then get some damned coffee down his neck.

_To be continued..._


	2. The Waiting Hell

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

**_A/N - Just to explain, I have as much knowledge of chemistry as a five year old, so what you will read here is...well...nonsense, in a kind of chemical sense. So when you read that part, don't shout at the screen. Okay, I feel better, I've got that off my chest. Enjoy!_**

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In the conference room, Abby and Tim sat slouched in their chairs, with their arms folded. They were still sulking and angry at the situation they had found themselves in. Within half an hour of the 'incident', Ducky had checked them out, and ordered them to the conference room to wait for Gibbs. With the adrenalin levels returning to normal, they had resorted to mutual defiant stances to hide the fact that they had been scared out of their wits.

"This totally sucks McGee!"

Tim frowned as he replied, "It's not like we did _a huge amount _of damage. But as usual, he's just going over the top and over reacting!"

He sighed loudly and rose abruptly from his seat and continued to complain as he paced up and down,

"Okay, I admit, it probably looks worse than it is, but we managed to get things under control really quickly _and_ we followed through on all the safety protocols. Under the circumstances, I don't understand why he is getting so uptight about this. I mean if it was _Tony_, I could understand why he'd be hauled up here, as he doesn't have my scientific background. But, you and I both, we're professionals right? Two adults working on a scientific project who just had a little...a slight...uh...we...uh..."

As his words trailed, he screwed up his face trying desperately to find an accurate description which could sensibly justify what had happened.

"He's Gibbs, McGee! Besides, he _always_ over-reacts when I screw up. Not that _I_ screwed up, more like when I get involved in someone else's screw ups."

Tim furrowed his brow as her words sunk in, "Hey, wait a minute! Are you implying that _I_ was the one who screwed the whole thing up?"

With wide accusing eyes she replied, "Well...uh...yeah...it was your fault McGee."

He gasped, open mouthed, momentarily speechless at her accusation.

"_My_ fault?"

She nodded sweetly with a broad innocent smile.

"_My_ fault?" he repeated.

She raised an eyebrow, "You were right the first time Tim."

He began wagging his finger at her,

"No, no, no, no, no! You are _not_ pinning this on me!"

"I wasn't the one who couldn't tell the difference between carbomonodioxidant and dihydrocarbonate! That second carbon molecule makes a _big_ difference Timmy!"

"You definitely said to add carbomonodioxidant! You never mentioned dihydrocarbonate!"

"Come on, Mister MIT graduate, even a _freshman_ can tell the difference between those two!"

Tim's face grew red with frustration, and, unable to argue the point any further decided on his last chance at recrimination,

"The whole thing was your stupid idea. If I hadn't listened to you, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Abby thumped him hard on the shoulder and he yelped,

"_I_ wasn't the one who mixed up what was going to be a perfectly good firework, and caused it to prematurely explode in my lab, and start a chain reaction with the other fireworks I was experimenting on, which lit up my lab like the fourth of July, and eventually resulted in me burning and ruining my labcoat, which I've had for a very long time incidentally. Or cause the fire alarms to go off and most of the building to evacuate just because _I_ don't understand basic chemistry McGee!"

There was a stunned silence, as they suddenly both realised the extent of the trouble they were in.

Tim gulped. Abby whimpered.

"When you put it like that Abby, he's gonna kill us...right?"

Her eyes widened in fear, "He might kill you, let's face it, he's got two other field agents he can rely on. But me, he can't kill _right_? I am his only lab genius..._right_?"

She wrung her hands nervously and couldn't help but think, that as Gibbs only lab genius, that might make her an even more precious commodity. Trying desperately to supress all thoughts of how much trouble she was in, she looked to Tim for moral support.

Tim McGee stood, still frozen to the spot. His mind was racing, trying to assess, calculate, justify, defend and find a solution, and words, which would convince himself that he wasn't in as much trouble, as his head was telling him he was in. He swallowed hard once more, and felt his heart pounding as he worked through the logic. Having taken all of the various factors into account, there was only one response. They were both up a piranha infested creek where paddles hadn't yet been invented.

The sound of the conference room door swinging open made them jump.

"Gibbs!"

_To be continued..._


	3. Facing the Music

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

**_A/N - This is a longer chapter and I intended to post it yesterday, but couldn't stop tinkering with it. Sorry!_**

* * *

The face of Special Agent Gibbs was sterner than usual, although Abby detected the hint of disappointment in his expression. She had come to know, through experience, that particular look. It was the look that said he was seriously pissed at her behaviour, and, was about to let her know it.

"Did Ducky check you both out? Are you sure you are both okay?" he said firmly as he closed the conference room door.

They quickly nodded. Under his piercing stare, their eyes avoided contact and were drawn to the floor, as the awkward silence continued. It was a silence soon broken with a heavy sigh from Gibbs.

"I've cleared everything with the Director; I've told her that it was a genuine experiment, following up on a cold case. Somehow, by some miracle, I think she bought it."

He frowned, still unable to settle that feeling in his gut. On the one hand, his gut was telling him to take both of them in his arms, and be grateful that they had come through the incident unscathed. There was, however, part of his gut that told him to knock sense into both of them for being so damned foolish. The frown continued as he realised, that ultimately, he would end up doing both.

"What the hell were you both thinking?"

There was silence as they continued to avoid eye contact with Gibbs.

Abby decided to focus on his shoes, mentally noting how shiny they were. She repeated the phrase, 'once a Marine, always a Marine' a couple of times in her head, trying to avoid eye contact for as long as possible. Silence too, also worked best, she thought, in these circumstances. Through silence, there was no admission, no guilt, no blame and, more importantly, no consequences. If only she could convince her stomach of that, it might not be on automatic overdrive, in preparation for what she knew was going to happen next.

Tim could feel his heart pumping, and his palms begin to get sweaty as his eyes darted randomly, trying to avert Gibbs gaze. He still continued to run through the incident in his mind again and again, looking for every shred of justification for screwing up so fantastically. Eventually, he decided that Gibbs would understand, it had been an accident after all, that was the logical solution. Tim McGee also decided that denial was the only thing that would keep him from not passing out.

"Okay, it's obvious that there wasn't much thinking going on, perhaps, then, you might want to tell me why you are here?"

Despite her biting her bottom lip in an attempt to keep quiet, Abby blurted a response,

"Because Tim blew up my lab?" she said remorsefully.

Tim gasped and then turned to face her,

"Wait a minute; we've just gone through this, it was _not_ my fault!"

She stamped her foot indignantly, "Well it wasn't _my_ fault!"

"It was _your_ idea to create the mother of all fireworks!" Tim snapped.

"It was a perfectly legitimate and viable experiment McGee, till _you_ got involved and _screwed_ it all up!"

Tim folded his arms defiantly, "I did _not_ screw up!"

"Did too" Abby barked in response.

"Did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"I did not!"

"You so did McGee!"

"Oh, for crying out loud," Gibbs muttered under his breath.

He closed his eyes momentarily, and inhaled deeply, as the repetitive recriminations increased in volume.

"STOP!" he finally bellowed.

Tim and Abby immediately froze, startled by Gibbs increasingly fraught tone.

"The two of you nearly got yourselves killed today on something that had nothing to do with the jobs that you are being paid to do. Both of you have demonstrated that you are more interested in behaving like kids than making sure that you follow safety protocols by put..."

"Gibbs! Look, before you say anything else, I swear we _did_ follow safety protocols! We doused the sparks and the small flames, well kinda, and then we hit the alarm and got everyone evacuated. It was _all_ done by the book!"

Gibbs glared at Abby his anger levels heightening by her whining interruption. He put his hand up to silence her.

"...by putting yourselves in a position where your safety was compromised!" he added firmly.

Abby huffed and hung her head low as he continued,

"Frankly, I _don't_ care whose fault it was, what I do care about is the fact that I almost lost an agent and a lab scientist through nothing more than two adults behaving like over excited fifth graders. I've yet to be convinced that both of you are truly aware of _how_ dangerous the consequences of your actions could have been today!"

As his words hit home, Abby and Tim paled.

"It won't happen again boss," Tim said quietly.

Gibbs perched on the side of the table and folded his arms.

"I'm pretty sure it won't Tim, but personally, I'd like some guarantee of that."

"Gibbs, I think I can speak for both McGee and I, and give you my word, I mean our word, that we will never, ever, play with fireworks again!" Abby added seriously, shaking her head from side to side.

"It's okay Abby, I think I can explain. You see boss, _technically_ we weren't playing with fireworks. Abby got some chemicals mixed up and gave me the wrong instructions and when..."

"Actually, Gibbs, the instructions _were_ correct, it's just that Tim couldn't identify the correct compound from the bottle marked with huge big bold letters. If I were you bossman, I'd get his eyes tested. I mean, if he can't read the contents of a jar, then you wouldn't want him out in the field or during a stakeout..."

"There is nothing _wrong_ with my eyes, it's more like _your_ instructions!"

Abby opened her mouth to retort in protest when Gibbs yelled at them,

"ENOUGH! You two stop this right now! Now look at me!"

They tore their eyes from the floor and looked at him.

"Both of you are intelligent, but as adults that comes with a responsibility to keep yourselves and others safe. The problem I need to fix with you two is making sure that next time, when those brains of yours kick off with some crazy goofball idea, there's also something that reminds you of the responsibility part."

Tim narrowed his eyes not entirely sure where Gibbs was heading. Abby on the other hand knew exactly what was on the steely eyed boss' mind, having been in the position before and heard a variation of the same conversation.

She decided to gamble on her response, hoping that for once, the somersaults in her gut were wrong and Gibbs wasn't going to do, what she thought he was going to do,

"Like a safety protocol checklist for all experiments?" she asked frivolously, hoping to mask her nervousness.

He couldn't help but smile sarcastically, sensing her game immediately.

"No, I _don't_ mean a checklist Abby," he said wryly, "as you damned well know."

She swallowed hard and had an unspoken 'I know that you know that I know' moment as Gibbs turned his eyes to Tim.

"Perhaps if I emphasise the danger of fireworks, then maybe _next_ time you two decide to play, it'll make you _think_ first, before you act."

Tim continued to stand bemused.

"Boss...uh...it's not that Abby and I don't know about the volatile nature of some of the compounds we were using, in this case it was a miscommunication which ended up causing a chemical reaction and..."

"Tim," Gibbs said gently, causing McGee to close his mouth instantly.

"The danger is McGee, that if you play irresponsibly with fireworks, you get burned."

McGee's mouth flapped, "But, b..boss, I know that there are infinite combinations of the chemicals we were using which could cause a similar reaction but..."

Abby slapped the back of his head.

"That's _not_ what he's talking about McGee!" she snapped with a heavy sulk.

Tim grimaced at the slap and then turned to her, still very much confused and began to pout, the head slap rendering him speechless.

"Don't make me say it out loud!" she whined and then turned to Gibbs,

"Gibbs, can you just explain to Mr MIT graduate...please?"

Gibbs frowned, although inwardly amused at Abby's growing frustration with Tim.

"Abby, why don't you wait outside while I deal with McGee?" he said firmly.

Tim's eyes widened, he wasn't entirely sure what 'deal with' meant, but the uneasy feeling in his stomach was growing into a huge knot. He had a sudden flash of revelation and he couldn't help but gasp. Surely 'deal with' wasn't the same 'deal with' that Tony or Abby had experienced. He thought back to the times when he had heard those words from Gibbs before and had seen Tony and Abby after they had been 'dealt with'. He reassured himself, that this was not one of these occasions and that Gibbs simply wanted Abby to leave so that he could chew him out for his foolishness. He breathed a sigh of relief, comforted by the huge blanket of denial that almost suffocated him.

Abby immediately headed for the door, and as she reached the door handle, she heard the chilling voice behind her, which stopped her in her tracks.

"And Abby, if you're not waiting out there when we're done..."

He let his sentence hang deliberately, ensuring complete attention,

"...you'll regret it."

She took in a deep breath and walked outside, not daring to look back.

_To be continued..._


	4. Tim

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

**_A/N - Thanks for all of the reviews guys!_**

* * *

Tim shuffled nervously from one foot to another as Gibbs pinned him with his stare. His eyes darted to and from Gibbs, anxious to trace every movement he made, without actually making eye contact with him. He had already begun to breathe erratically after Abby had left the room. As Gibbs walked closer to him, he swallowed hard, and concentrated on keeping his feet planted to the ground, resisting the urge to run as fast as he could, out of the door.

Gibbs could see how nervous McGee was and he sighed gently. He'd gotten enough of a scare with the fireworks and the last thing he needed, was for him to pass out on him, before he had a chance to make things right with him.

"McGee, I need you to understand that your behaviour was entirely unacceptable and if you insist on behaving like a child, then you leave me no alternative but to deal with you like one. Trust me, to give you the reminder you need so that this doesn't happen again."

Tim hadn't really heard much beyond the word 'deal'. Again, his stomach flipped and he desperately didn't want to admit that everything going on up until now had pretty much hinted that he was about to be 'dealt with' in exactly the same way as his co-workers had been in the past.

"Uh...b...boss...when you...uh...say, 'deal' with...uh...I...uhm...can you..."

Gibbs worked hard to remain expressionless; he placed his hands slowly on McGee's shoulders and steadied him,

"McGee, stop. Now breathe. That's it, calm down."

Tim eventually made eye contact with his boss and frowned with confusion as Gibbs usual stare was not as stern as it had been. He could tell that Gibbs was as angry as hell but there was something else in his eyes that he couldn't place. He swallowed hard and found a shred of confidence,

"B..boss...are you gonna...uh...do...what I...uh...think you're gonna do?"

Gibbs raised his eyebrow, "Uh-huh."

Tim lost all grasp of that comfortable zone of denial he had been in, and he looked at his boss in shock, as he continued,

"That is, unless you want to go to the Director and explain that you and Abby were fooling around, and that's why you just cost the Agency hundreds of dollars to fix up the lab."

"No! Not the Director, I'll get suspended or fired and so will Abby!" Tim squeaked.

As McGee worked through the possibility of never working for NCIS again, he realised that Gibbs was offering him a way out of formal disciplinary procedures. He was still processing those thoughts in his mind when he suddenly felt Gibbs hand on his arm and his being guided towards an empty chair. He jerked his arm and pulled away from Gibbs grip.

Gibbs sat down on the chair and nodded his head, signalling for McGee to position himself over his knee.

"Boss, please! I haven't been in that position since I was a kid."

Gibbs sighed heavily, "It's like riding a bike, McGee. You never forget what the SOP is."

"Isn't that the point?" Tim whimpered.

"What?"

"Not to forget."

"Well, something like that McGee. Come on, get over here."

"Uh...you're not going to use anything...are you? I mean, you're going to use just your...uh...hand...right?"

"Yes, Tim, but if you don't get over here, I might change my mind."

"You wouldn't...would you?...okay you would...oh, boss...just one more thing!"

"What is it now, McGee?"

"I think I need the bathroom."

"No you don't" Gibbs replied quickly, his voice beginning to display his growing exasperation.

"But, boss!" Tim whined as he continued to stand rooted to the spot.

"McGee, until now, I would have thought Tony was the king of stalling! Trust me, I've got more patience than you. We are not leaving here, till we're done with this. It's up to you how long you want to drag this out."

Tim took a few moments, before his shoulders sagged and he reluctantly took a small step forward. Gibbs gave a small grin and raised himself from the chair and taking Tim's wrist, guideded him over his lap, before he could change his mind. He immediately placed a hand on his back to hold him down.

Tim could only gasp at the position he ultimately found himself in, and he started to squirm in an instinctive attempt to stand back up. He found this task impossible as Gibbs held him down fast.

"Take it easy McGee, you're not going anywhere. As I said, we _are_ going to do this _and_ we are going to deal with the consequences of your childish actions...now breathe," he said gently.

McGee stilled instantly, his brain not entirely computing the gentle tone of the words he was hearing against the prospect of being spanked by his boss. As he wrestled with that dilemma he jumped as Gibbs hand smacked down hard across his butt.

"Ow! B..boss!"

He wriggled round to glance up at Gibbs,

"Boss, seriously, that _hurt_!"

"Uh-huh." Gibbs replied quickly as he hauled McGee back into position and brought his hand crashing down.

Tim yelped uncontrollably as Gibbs continued to spank him at a steady pace. It didn't take long for his eyes to fill and he spluttered, trying to keep control of himself. Eventually, Gibbs halted the rapid onslaught and laid a harder swat across Tim's already sore backside.

"You will _not_ do anything as childish as this again!"

He delivered another hard swat, making Tim jump.

"If you continue to _act_ like a kid Tim, you'll find yourself in this position _every_ time!"

And another.

"You will _not_ risk your life, or anyone else's on some futile experiment! You are _too_ damned important to me for that, don't you question or forget that for one minute. Do you understand?"

Gibbs last statement hit home and he silently rebuked himself for his selfishness. He'd spent the time since the incident trying to justify his actions and convince himself that it had all been just an unfortunate accident. As he faced up to how close he had been to seriously injuring or even killing himself, he had never thought about how Gibbs would have felt about loosing him. In a split second he held the image in his mind of Gibbs explaining the accident to his parents, telling them that he had been injured, or even killed. At that moment, he lost all sense of control and found himself blubbing over his boss' lap,

"Y..yes...b..boss...I understand..I'm s..sorry...it was...stupid...I'm sorry...it was careless...I'm sorry!"

Gibbs turned up the corner of his mouth in a wry smile and ruffled the back of Tim's neck.

"Okay Tim, it's alright son, take a deep breath, we're done here. We all do stupid things some times; the point is to learn from them."

Tim gulped in some deep breaths and it was a few moments later when he stood up with Gibbs help and quickly ran his sleeve over his eyes. He sniffed hard and stood sheepishly in front of Gibbs.

Gibbs placed one hand on his shoulder and with the other tipped Tim's chin up gently and then seeing that the younger man was okay eventually completed the second part of his task and took him into a hug. The emotionally exhausted McGee didn't think twice and accepted the hug readily.

"It's done McGee. Not another word about it. I want you to go to the head and freshen up and get back to work when you're ready, okay?"

Tim stood back up and nodded, and found himself whispering hoarsely, "Uh...thanks, boss."

As he headed stiffly for the door he rolled his eyes at the sudden dawn of realisation of what Gibbs had meant when he had mentioned about getting burned playing with fireworks. He felt sure that the heat radiating from his backside was only slightly cooler than the firework display that had been set off in Abby's lab.

He seriously needed to have a word with Ms Scuito before he agreed to participate in any more experiments.

_To be continued..._


	5. Abby

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

**_A/N - Another explanation - my knowledge of anatomy is the same as knowledge of chemistry! Thanks to the internet for giving me an indication of what the muscles are (confused? you'll get to that part in this chapter and then you'll understand)._**

**_I am so grateful to everyone who has reviewed the story. Your support really means alot to me. Thanks!_**

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In the corridor, Abby Scuito had been hyperactively pacing the floor. As the muffled sounds of Tim being spanked had escaped from the room, she had increased her pacing speed and began wringing her hands.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," she repeated over and over.

As the sound ceased she fixed her eyes on the door and swallowed hard. When it eventually opened, she couldn't help but start to retreat backwards down the corridor, only stopping abruptly as she recalled Gibbs' earlier warning.

She winced in sympathy, as Tim emerged, red faced and walking gingerly down the corridor. He smiled quickly as he passed her, unable to say anything as he made his way to the bathroom.

"Abby."

The cold voice of Jethro Gibbs made her spin her head around. He stood in the door way and beckoned her with his finger.

She bit her bottom lip and screwed up her face,

"Gibbs! Uh...wouldn't you like to take a rest first! Can I get you a coffee?"

He laughed out loud and nodded his head in the direction of the conference room.

"I don't need a rest, and, I'll get coffee later...come on, let's get this over with."

She followed him slowly into the conference room and stood nervously beside the table. She kept her wide eyes on him as he closed the door and then walked slowly to stand in front of her.

"Tell me Abby, do you and DiNozzo have some sort of competition going on?"

"Huh?" she replied, totally thrown by his question.

"When I told you I'd start smacking you like DiNozzo, I didn't figure you'd be aiming to have the same number he gets in a week!"

She gulped and then started wringing her hands once more,

"Okay, I know this is like, the second time in just a few weeks, that you've not been overly happy with me."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, more than a little pissed off. Okay, extremely mad and disappointed, but I _swear_ Gibbs, I didn't mean to blow up the lab and whatever McGee might have said it _was_ his fault, you see he put the wrong chemical in, and if he had listened carefully to what I said, we would have had an extremely attractive blue and green, sparkly mother of all fireworks, but as he screwed up, we didn't. Did I tell you I burned my lab coat? I've had that coat for years. It has sentimental value, Gibbs! I've solved hundreds of cases with that coat, well not entirely the coat, but that coat helps me think, and now I have to get a new one, and it won't have the same coat karma that my old one had and..."

He was sure that she would have come up for breath a lot sooner, but he decided not to see how long she could actually witter on for.

"Abby," he said sternly.

She finally took in a deep breath and looked at him, mustering the best puppy dog look she could manage,

"I'm in big trouble right?"

"What do _you_ think?"

"I thought you weren't supposed to answer a question with a question."

He inhaled and scowled at her,

"And _I _thought you would know by know that smart mouthing me when you are in the mess that you are in, isn't exactly gonna help your case, young lady!"

She grimaced at the change in his tone and her eyes found the floor. She heard him sigh heavily.

"Do you understand why we have to do this? Why I have to punish you?"

She nodded her head and glanced at him quickly. He raised his eyebrow waiting for her to explain.

"Because we wrecked the lab, and were working on experiments that had nothing to do with a case, and we had everyone evacuate the building, and that isn't good for productivity levels."

He folded his arms as he continued to glare at her.

"And?"

She bit her bottom lip and shuffled from one foot to another. Her mind raced, knowing that Gibbs was pissed that she'd once again not thought about the consequences of where her curiosity might lead. And that it could have potentially have ended with both her and Tim lying in a slab in Ducky's autopsy. The problem she had right now, was that her brain knew it, but she couldn't get her mouth to engage and actually say all that.

"I know, okay," she pouted, "look, can we just get it over with?"

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and tilted his head slightly,

"We're doing nothing till you tell me _why_ we are here. So unless you want to drag this out, you better start talking."

She huffed loudly and folded her arms defiantly.

"I shouldn't have...uhm..."

He prompted her further as she let the silence grow,

"Go on."

"...uh...goofed around with stuff that was dangerous. And involved Tim and been so excited about what I was doing to check that we were doing everything correctly and so not ending up with a lab lit up like the fourth of July...which...uh...coulda...uhm...killed both of us."

She narrowed her eyes, "Okay, you happy now! I said it! We screwed up and nearly got us both killed!"

He smirked, "And _that_ is the reason why I am doing this Abby, because I will not tolerate you or McGee putting yourselves into positions that endanger your lives."

Gibbs took hold of Abby's arm firmly and as he sat down in the chair, he pulled her down onto his lap and held her down just as he'd done with Tim.

She squirmed and managed to wriggle around so that she looked up at him.

"Gibbs, do you _have_ to do this? I mean, you _really_ don't know how hard a hand you've got. What if you pull an interosseus muscle? You won't be able to work on your boat. Or what if you damage your thenar muscle? There's no way you'll be able to hold your gun properly and what if..."

He laid a hard smack down on her backside and she yelped.

"If you don't want me to damage my hand Abby, I can always use something else to do this!"

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head, and then reluctantly turned around, and waited for the onslaught to begin.

He sighed for a moment and pressed his hand a little more firmly down on her back and raised the other.

"Oww!...Giiiibbbss!!"

Abby squealed at every hard swat Gibbs delivered to her backside, and was soon sniffling, as every muscle in his hand got a rigorous workout. As with McGee, he eventually stopped and laid a hard smack across her butt.

"No more stupid experiments Abby, or we do this every day for a week, do you understand me?"

"Yeeessss!" she wailed.

He delivered one more stinging smack.

"Life is too precious to play with Abby! You are too precious to risk on some dumb firework. You mean _too_ much to me to be playing with your life like that. You got me?"

She sniffed hard.

"Yeah...I got you!"

She always got Gibbs. Got it that he had a fierce overprotective streak about her that didn't help her rear end whenever she strayed a little of topic. Got it that he wasn't ever going to let her away with her stubborn curiosity when it steered her down a dangerous path. Got it that she'd disappointed him. Got it that he'd fixed the fact that she had been scared out of her wits as her lab exploded in a multicolored spectacle and now she felt that at least she'd paid the price for her stupidity, despite not actually admitting it out loud.

He stood up and sighed, happy to now get to the second task he had to carry out. Gently holding her he took her in his arms and held her close as she cried softly into his shoulder.

"We're done Abby...we're done. Everything's okay now." he whispered gently in her ear.

Finally she lifted her head and looked up to meet his now gentler blue eyes.

"When you said earlier that...uh...we were both intelligent, you did mean that I was more intelligent than Tim...right?"

Gibbs simply smiled and he put his arm around her as they walked together to the door.

"You are _both_ geniuses in a 'nutty professor' kinda way" he said jokingly.

"But who has the most smarts Gibbs?" she pressed him further.

He sighed and raised an eyebrow, "Whichever one of you can stay out of trouble the longest! Why don't you head back to your lab, I'll send McGee down to give you a hand with the clear up."

She nodded sheepishly and, as she headed down the corridor behind Gibbs, she whispered quietly.

"Damn, McGee! Staying outta trouble? We need to talk Timmy-boy!"

_To be continued..._


	6. Cuddly Grandfather?

**Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.**

**Warning - Contains spanking, don't like, don't read - Step away from the story now!**

* * *

Abby stood in the middle of the lab and sighed. Apart from the broken glass and the frazzled remnants of paperwork, the lab didn't look too bad. She walked slowly to the cupboard and opened the door.

"Bert! You're okay!" she beamed, as she hugged the stuffed animal, which immediately responded with its usual sound.

"Well at least _someone_ survived unscathed!" the voice came from the doorway.

"Hey McGee," Abby replied quietly, "have you come to help me clean up?"

"As per Gibbs orders," he said with a small smile.

The two exchanged silent glances for a moment.

"You okay Tim? Wasn't that the first..."

"First...uh...yeah...are...uh...you okay?"

She nodded and smiled gently. Tim swallowed hard and walked slowly to join her and ruffled the top of Bert's head.

"I feel kinda strange though."

Abby furrowed her brow, "Strange as in, 'my butt feels like the optimum temperature for a barbecue' or, a different kind of strange?"

Tim huffed, "Well, the first part obviously, but I never thought that...I...uh...what I mean is that...Gibbs...I never..."

She slapped him upside the head. Hard.

"Find the words McGee!" she snapped.

"Ow!...he was..._nice_! There, I said it!"

Abby rolled her eyes and sat down on the high lab seat. She immediately jumped back up, thinking better of it. She scowled as he continued.

"You know, I...uh...didn't expect him to be so...uh...un-Gibbs like. Sure, it hurt like hell, and I was expecting it too, but...afterwards...he...uh...well...was...uhm..._nice_."

"Of _course_, he was nice McGee! Although he _tells_ everyone that the second 'b' is for bastard, deep down, he's like a...cuddly Grandfather!"

Tim raised an eyebrow at the analogy, "A...cuddly...Grandfather?"

"Well maybe _not_ a Grandfather, but someone, who you respect, who gives a damn to make sure you remember to stay on the straight and narrow, sorta!"

He winced as he shuffled from one foot to another.

"I felt like a little kid again Abbs. It was, weird!"

"McGee, let me explain this to you, and this time, listen carefully, because I really don't want you pretending you didn't hear me, like the whole dihydrocarbonate thing, okay?"

Tim narrowed his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip.

"Gibbs, _cares_ McGee! He's _not_ like any other boss who'd quite happily fill in a whole bunch of paperwork, to stick in your file, that only ever sees the light of day when you go for promotion, and doesn't really care that you actually _learn_ from your mistakes."

"But..." he tried to interrupt.

Abby stood tall, her hands getting more and more animated,

"Put it this way, next time, Timmy, when you're at the crossroads of making a bad decision or a good one, what'll you be thinking _huh_?"

Tim screwed up his face in confusion.

"If you're like the rest of the team, your first thought isn't going to be some piece of paper that's going to haunt you is it? You're not going to want to face Gibbs. He's the _only_ one you can trust, _not_ to brush things under the carpet, because he'll make you face up to what you've done _and_ make it that you sure as hell learn from it."

"I guess you're right Abbs. I just don't know if I can handle the fact that I disappointed him," he replied mournfully.

She slapped the back of his head once more and he yelped.

"What was _that_ for?" he squeaked rubbing the back of his head.

"D'uh, with Gibbs, it's all over! Now I bet you he told you that he wouldn't mention it again huh?"

He grimaced as he nodded in agreement.

"Well, you've taken your whippin' McGee and it's all done and forgiven and like two tow trucks on the Highway, you and Gibbs, move on!"

Tim sighed and then began to smile gently.

"What's so funny?"

His smile grew a little wider.

"He _did_ say I was important to him."

Abby growled and lightly swatted him on the arm,

"You always _were_ McGee! _Didn't_ you know that? God, it's just a bummer that you had to come to realise that through getting your six burned!"

He rubbed his rear end and winced,

"Well, if nothing else, I also learned that I will _not_ be getting involved in any of your stupid ideas again Abby. I don't want to end up...you know...uh..."

She smiled sheepishly at him and sighed,

"You know McGee, you're important to me too! You, Tony, Ziva, Ducky and even dorky Palmer, we're all like family. Gibbs understands that, and _that's_ why he gets pissed when either one of us screws up. We've got to protect our little family McGee!"

"You make us sound like the Mafia!"

Abby giggled and threw her arms around him and hugged him hard,

"_Not_ the Mafia McGee, just one big happy NCIS family!"

She broke the embrace quickly, her eyes wide with concern.

"Just don't tell Gibbs I called him a cuddly Grandfather...right?"

Tim smiled, "It's a deal Abby, as long as you keep us both out of trouble...right?"

Abby grinned and put her arms around Tim once more,

"No problem McGee, after all, _I've_ got some smarts you know!"

The clearing up continued and both Abby and Tim were glad to see the end of the day and the prospect of feeling a little less uncomfortable the following day.

Tim McGee's stride was almost back to normal as he entered the bullpen the following morning. He sucked in a breath and almost stopped in his tracks as he eyed the Director at Gibbs desk and silently cursed the empty desks of Tony and Ziva who were not able to provide a suitable distraction.

"Morning, boss. Director." he said sheepishly, as he sat down carefully at his desk.

Gibbs lifted his head and nodded curtly as he always did. Jen, on the other hand, spun round and folded her arms.

"Special Agent McGee! I trust you've recovered after yesterday?"

"I...uh...have Director...uh...yes...thank you."

She raised an eyebrow and he gulped.

"I suppose I should probably commend your commitment to solving our cold cases McGee, _even_ if it did cost the Agency in repairs to the Lab!"

He smiled weakly, and coughed nervously, and then stuck his head in his screen.

Jen turned her attention back to Gibbs and leaned in close, so that she could speak quietly without Tim hearing.

"You still insist this was a cold case accident Jethro, and not some cover up, that you've dealt with, behind my back?"

He looked her straight in the eye, and titled his head slightly, "Do you think I would _deliberately_ mislead you...Director?"

She narrowed her eyes, searching for a shred of evidence of deceit.

"Of course you wouldn't Jethro..."

He grinned at her, and then signed the report before handing it to her. The smile was still on his face, when she flicked through the report and then turned her eyes to his once more,

"...I do not need to remind you, of _all_ people, of how serious the consequences are for that!"

Gibbs scowled. Jennifer Shepherd, however, did not leave room for a response and quickly turned on her heel and headed for the elevator. There was no evidence of Gibbs deceit, but, she knew her former boss well enough to know exactly how he had probably handled things. She had screwed up when she was his Probie and had first hand experience. Her gut knew that there was something definitely hinky about the whole incident.

As she ascended the stairs, she caught sight of McGee squirming unconsciously in his chair and she instantly smiled. When she reached the top of the stairs she tore Gibbs report in half and tossed it into Cynthia's trash can. There was one thing she had learned since becoming Director, and that was to choose the battles she would have with Gibbs. There had been enough fireworks for everyone to let this one fizzle out.

Gibbs sighed heavily and glanced over at McGee, who was already busy typing away on his keyboard. He smiled as he noticed a calmer Tim McGee than the one he had dealt with the previous day. Having already seen Abby, and been reassured that she too, was over the incident, he took in a deep breath and took a large gulp of hot coffee.

Although, he was never sure how long it was going to last, for the first time in over twenty four hours, Jethro Gibbs' gut was calm once more.

THE END


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